Sovereign Grace Churches

Sovereign Grace Churches
File:Sovereign Grace Ministries.png
Abbreviation	SGM
Classification	Protestant
Orientation	Continuationist, Calvinist
Region	Primarily United States
Origin	1982 Gaithersburg, Maryland
Congregations	79
Official website	sovereigngrace.com

Sovereign Grace Churches (previously known as Sovereign Grace Ministries (SGM) and People of Destiny International (PDI)) is a group of Reformed, neocharismatic, Evangelical, restorationist, Christian churches primarily located in North America. It has variously been described as a family of churches, a denomination, and an apostolic network. There are congregations in Australia, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Great Britain, Germany and Mexico.

History

The organization of over 70 member churches grew out of the charismatic renewal of the 1970s under the leadership of Catholic Charismatic Larry Tomczak. It has its roots in a charismatic prayer meeting in Silver Spring, Maryland, then Washington, DC called Take and Give (TAG), which grew into Covenant Life Church, the longtime flagship of Sovereign Grace. It was formally established in 1982. Tomczak cofounded the church with CJ Mahaney. Mahaney describes himself as a "former pothead." Larry Tomczak withdrew from the Charismatic Catholic scene shortly before the creation of Covenant Life Church.

Tomczak and Mahaney and the movement were influenced by Bryn Jones and Terry Virgo, leaders of the British New Church Movement. Both Tomczak and Mahaney spoke at New Frontiers' Bible Weeks and Stoneleigh Conference. They were also friendly with Maranatha Campus Ministries for a period.

In "The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Modern Christian Thought" published in 1995, Alister McGrath associated PDI with the Shepherding Movement and described it as having "informal links with Bryn Jones," the UK house church leader. In the mid-1990s, while Tomczak was still involved in the group's leadership, religious anthropologist Dr. Karla Poewe wrote that "Vineyard is particularly attractive to the young and intellectual... People of Destiny serves a Catholic constituency" although participants at that time would not agree with this assessment. contrasting PDI with the Vineyard Church.

The theological focus gradually shifted during the mid 1990s and it was later suggested that the increasingly Calvinistic theology of PDI was a major factor in Larry Tomczak's departure from the movement. Although reconciled with C J Mahaney in 2011, he earlier described the parting of ways with Sovereign Grace Ministries as "an unbelievable nightmare" during which his family "were threatened in various ways if [they] did not cooperate with [PDI/SGM]... A letter was circulated in an attempt to discredit me and to distort the events surrounding my departure." Other notable charismatic figures, such as Lou Engle, founder of The Call prayer concerts, and Ché Ahn, pastor of Harvest Rock Church in Pasadena, CA, also ceased to be formally associated with PDI during this period.

As of 2008 the group identified itself as "a family of churches passionate about the gospel of Jesus Christ... with a strong doctrinal basis that is evangelical, Reformed, and continuationist." This move towards the Reformed (or Calvinist) wing of the church is illustrated by Sovereign Grace's partnerships with speakers such as John MacArthur, Mark Dever, and John Piper, who speak at the Together for the Gospel Conferences.

In 2002, Wayne Grudem, a theology professor at Phoenix Seminary in Arizona, said "What I see is outward evidence of God's favor. That's at the heart of the success of this church... I know of churches around the United States who are looking to Sovereign Grace Ministries as an example of the way churches ought to work." Whether or not Grudem has in any way made modified his sentiment regarding seeing "outward evidence of God's favor" upon SGM in the interim since 2002, in light of the wholesale changes and controversy surrounding the organization that have transpired during that time, is currently unknown, in terms of published documentation.

On July 6, 2011, Mahaney announced that he would be taking a leave of absence as a team reviews charges brought against him of "pride, unentreatability, deceit, sinful judgment, and hypocrisy." One of the purposes for this period included reconciliation with former SGM ministers. Larry Tomczak reported that Mahaney had gone out of his way to rebuild their relationship after 13 years of estrangement. On January 25, 2012, Mahaney was reinstated as president of the organization by the board after three review panels found no reason to disqualify C.J. from his role as President, or to "call into question his fitness for gospel ministry."

Early in 2012, Sovereign Grace Ministries announced their intention to relocate their headquarters from Gaithersburg, Maryland to Louisville, Kentucky, citing Louisville's lower cost of living as well as the growing connection with The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in town. Some critics have suggested that the move may have more to do with the fractured state of the organization's relationship with the SGM flagship church, Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg.

Late 2012 also saw the departure of the movement's flagship Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD from SGM, a decision supported by an overwhelming 93% of voting members. Additionally, the Sovereign Grace churches in Charlottesville, VA, Indiana and Altoona PA, Sarasota and Daytona Beach, FL cut ties with the movement during this period. Daytona Beach's pastor Jesse Jarvis noted a “leadership culture characterized by excessive authority and insufficient accountability” as rationale for the church's departure. About 80 churches from the United States and around the world remained in the organization, however.

History of name changes

Sovereign Grace Ministries was known as "People of Destiny International" until 1998. British restorationist leader Terry Virgo states that Larry Tomczak and CJ Mahaney, leaders at the time, had become "increasingly uncomfortable" with the "People of Destiny International" name, and it was shortened to "PDI Ministries". In 2002, the group adopted its next name of "Sovereign Grace Ministries."

In December 2014, executive director Mark Prater announced that the group's name would change to "Sovereign Grace Churches", to reflect its newly changed structure.

Church planting

Church planter Fred Herron described the PDI/SGM church planting method of founding new churches: a pastor leads a group of members to relocate to a different city and form, or plant, a new church.

The first church planting team was sent out to Cleveland, Ohio and founded the church North Coast Church in the earliest years of Covenant Life Church.

For many years, PDI did not adopt existing churches, but later altered its policy. SGM adoption of an existing church begins with the development of a relationship with leadership and continues with dialogue to evaluate the doctrinal and practical compatibility of Sovereign Grace with the church desiring adoption.

Child sex abuse scandals

In late 2012, a lawsuit in Montgomery County, Maryland was brought against Sovereign Grace Ministries for allegedly not reporting sex abuse that allegedly occurred 20 to 30 years ago. The plaintiffs claimed that church leaders, including Mahaney, did not report accusations of misconduct to the police. A thorough police investigation resulted in no charges or arrests of any of the men named as alleged perpetrators in the lawsuit. An independent investigator also found no evidence of an attempt to cover up child sex abuse. The independent investigator also determined that the sex abuse allegations that were investigated likely never happened at all. One of the plaintiffs has since recanted her story, admitting it was false. Larry Tomczak, a co-founder of SGM, who left the organization in the late 1990s, was alleged to have abused and assaulted a victim over a period of twenty-five years. Tomczak was investigated and no charges were filed against him. All of the claims by the Maryland plaintiffs were dismissed in May 2013 because the statute of limitations had expired, 3 years after each turned 18; the claims by two Virginia plaintiffs were still within the statute of limitations. An appeal of the lower court's decision was heard by the Maryland appellate court in May 2014, and the lawsuit was again dismissed because the Plaintiff's attorney, Susan Burke, had failed to file properly. The case was then appealed to Maryland's highest court and on September 22, 2014, the court denied cert, ending the civil lawsuit.

In a different case in 2014, Nathaniel Morales, a youth volunteer at Covenant Life Church, was convicted of abusing four boys between 1983 and 1991.

In November 2013, SGM issued a statement saying that, years after pastoral counsel was sought, "allowing courts to second guess pastoral guidance would represent a blow to the First Amendment." Regarding the accuracy of the plaintiffs' claims, SGM released a statement saying that "SGM is not in a position to comment on the specific allegations at this time, but upon review it appears the complaint contains a number of misleading allegations, as well as considerable mischaracterizations of intent."

External links

• Official website